Seventy-Two Pillars Devil's Standpoint
by 4fireking
Summary: In Rias and Akeno's early ages in highschool Akeno is trapped in the underground while Rias is in the human world. Their quest is on a few keys still remaining they need to start a long war over again. ( co-author Blazing Tempest)
1. Chapter 1

**This chapter was written by Blazing Tempest. We are collaborating on this story and so far I'm really excited to be doing it.**

XXX

" Several thousands years ago, a great war between three major factions occured. The war waged for the rights to rule left all three of factions, namely angels, fallen angels, and devils deeply scarred. From 72 keys of Solomon that formed the devils' most powerful warriors, only a few remained."

" That's cool, dad! But, that red-man from before said we had great contribution that time. How? We're not from the 72 pillars."

The grey haired man laughed heartily and patted his 6 years old son's head. The boy smiled at his father's display of affection and looked at him in the eyes.

" 72 keys were not the only ones capable of fighting. Your great grandfather was one of the generals leading legions of nobles in war that time, decimating opposing forces bravely. Our family's strong, you know? The Gremory family has ties with us from a long time ago because of that. That red-man is actually my friend."

Their conversation was cut short with a voice coming from inside.

" Master and young master, dinner is served. Please, head to the dining room before the food gets cold."

" Big sister Samirah! What did you cook?"

The woman was in her late teens, clad in maid clothes. Young Verdia ran to her and tackled. His weight wasn't enough to throw her off balance, so he ended up getting hugged by the older woman.

" Today we have paella, young master. I've also made apple pies from the fruits freshly picked. I hope it'll suit your tastes."

" Yay! I love pie! Dad, let's go!"

Together, they went to the dining room. There, Verdia's mom, Erin Arcadia, was already waiting. She was originally from other devil family, but after marrying Zeo Arcadia, her last name changed. Devils had the power to keep their youth at any age, so even though she was already quite old for humans' standard, she still retained a young woman's beauty.

" Hey, son. How's your magic training?"

The six years old Verdia reached for his spoon and faced his mother.

" Ummm... Good, mom."

She just sighed and turned to someone else.

" Well, brother. What do you think? You're the one overseeing his training."

She turned to another man sitting on near her son. He turned to Verdia and eyed him with a judging look, then back to his sister.

" I don't know, sis. I can't say he's bad at magic, but he's definitely unlike what I've seen in these 200 years of experience of mine."

Erin Arcadia, previously Erin Agares supported an amused look on her face. Her husband's brother wasn't just another person in the Underworld. He was chosen as the magic instructor for the devil's army. Nicknamed 'Thousand Spells', he had a massive repertoire of spells and sheer amount of mana to use them without much difficulty.

Now he was saying that her son had some unknown magic? If that wasn't a surprise, that what could be one?

" I think it'll be faster for you to actually see for yourself. C'mon, Verdia. Show your mom what you learned."

" Okay, Uncle!"

The young child raised both of his hands and formed a small flame on his palms. So far, it looked like normal devil magic, but suddenly, the flame grew in size, and turned to a boulder sized fireball.

His mom was a little surprised at her son's progress, but still, she couldn't understand what was so wrong about that magic. With a questioning look, she turned to her husband, who just shook his head.

" Brother, do enlighten me, what is so uncommon with my son's magic? Sure, his growth might be rare, but I think it's an exaggeration to say it's unique."

He was silent for a while, as if dazed with his nephew's display. After the fireball finally dissipated, he faced his sister in law with solemn look on his face.

" Don't you see? He formed that magic, not with imagination like us, but instead, he integrated the process itself!"

" What's so special about it?"

The magic instructor sighed and created an example.

" Look, this is how we make fire."

He ignited his index finger's tip. Then, he put it out and raised both hands.

" And this is how he makes it."

Both hands clasped in front of his chest, and flames started pouring out from it. Then, slowly but surely, the flames expanded and heated up the room. Eventually, beads of sweat appeared on the mage's forehead and the flames dissipated.

Both of Verdia's parents were confused, not understanding the difference.

" The first one was a fire made purely by imagining, while the second, I ignited the oxygen and supplied it with certain gas to make it bigger."

Looking at his relatives, he sighed.

" Have you ever noticed that our technologies are almost completely centered in magic? Unlike humans who tried other methods. Since the middle realm's mana concentration is too weak, most of them are born without the ability to control magic. Thus, electricity, physics, science, and technology were born."

" So? If there's magic, why not utilize it?"

Erin Arcadia's skeptic frown was clear to see, while others had questioning look.

" No one can ever do magic with more than 3 steps. Nearly all devil magic, for example, Phenex's fire magic is activated with one step, and empowered with mana. Mana quality and quantity are the deciding factors to power. But his…"

He dramatically pointed at Verdia, who was casually eating his 3rd apple pie. His paella plate had been long relieved of its content.

" …Is far different."

Slowly realizing the truth of her husband's brother, she nodded with some understanding and turned to her son with a vibrant smile.

" Great work, Verdia. I'm proud of you."

" Hehehe~ Thanks, mom!"

Although he was completely clueless with why his mother had praised him.

" Rias-chan! Wait up!"

" Verdia-kun! You forgot your books!"

3 children ran along the road to the devils' capital city's school for nobles. Devils had an incredibly low rate of birth and very, very great longevity, so one school was more than enough for noble-class youngsters.

One was a young girl with blazing red hair extending to her back.

One was a young girl with short black hair.

The last one was a male with light purple hair.

They were Rias Gremory, second child Gremory family, Sona Sitri, also the second child of Sitri family, and Verdia Arcadia. Normally, noble children would be escorted to school with carriage, but those three had rather high yearning of adventure, so they all walked to school every day.

Well, the distance wasn't that far from their residence, anyway.

In the devils' system, those who possessed titles would be given residence in the center of the city, while commoners' houses surrounding them. Of course, each noble had lands outside the capital, but they were taken care of by the branch families. In that case, they became landlords who governed areas.

Considering the nobles' low numbers, it wasn't so surprising that their area was considerably smaller to the commoners', although their mansions had more superior size and luxury compared to normal people.

Due to their families knowing others, those three quickly became close. Every day, they'd meet up somewhere to go to school together.

" It's practical magic period next, right?"

" Yep! Though I haven't trained at all…"

Students chatted during break about the next class. Being so young, they still had no topics to talk about other than school and their experiences. This day just had more interesting than the next class.

Practical magic.

That was a class restricted only for nobles. All students must have certain mastery over their bloodline magic traits, and this school ensured that. Each member of the 72 Pillars had some kind of unique ability exclusive to them. Unfortunately, during the Great War, many of the families became extinct, and the numbers dropped to 33 families. Those 33 pillars had the highest rank of nobility, with superior noble families following.

" Alright class, be silent and change. We'll go to the gym."

The teacher clapped his hands to gain their attention. Once his message was accepted, he walked out to prepare.

10 minutes later…

" Now, we'll run a check-up on magical strength and accuracy. Hit that gauge doll over there with everything you've got, and make sure it hits! Nothing will happen if your magic doesn't hit the target."

A robotic doll with a bar on its chest was placed. One of rather unique invention of Underworld's best researcher, Ajuka Beelzebub. Usually, only offensive magic's power could be gauged, but this doll had the power to sense the density of mana the spell erected. It could even measure support magic! The only thing it couldn't gauge was regenerative power.

" Rias Gremory. Ah, don't worry, just hit it with your magic. It won't disintegrate."

The red haired female nodded cheerfully at the kind male teacher and formed two red and black energy spheres, made of demonic mana.

" Hyaahh!"

With a rather cute shriek, she threw both orbs straight to the doll. The magic blast collided with the doll and exploded. After the smoke cleared, a number of 75 was shown.

" Oohh~ Your magic has grown again, Gremory-san. Keep progressing. Next, Haze Valevor."

Another student came forward, this time a male with light green hair. His expression was relaxed but still passionate.

He assumed a sword stance, and pulled his right hand back, like unsheathing a sword. A faint light appeared from his hand, and slowly shaped itself to one-handed sword made of grey substance.

He dashed quickly, like an arrow released from bow. Once reaching proper distance, he slashed his sword in crescent arc, perfectly hitting the target.

*Beep*

" Well, 65. Remember, Valevor-san. Using a close range magic requires great deal of concentration, since you move your body and maintain the stability of your magic. Your sword must be more solid. Next, Sona Sitri."

The short-haired girl walked forward and started concentrating. Shortly after, two serpents made of water circled her arms. After maxing out the serpents' body with mana, she gracefully spun and shot both straight to the measuring tool.

Both water snakes impacted with it, letting out a loud noise. However, the show didn't end with just that. She made a grappling motion with both hands, and those snakes responded in kind. Both of them circled the doll and started crushing it. The doll, however, remained intact, as if nothing happened.

After a while, she let go of her magic, her mana reserves depleted.

Immediately, her classmates cheered, whistled, and showered her in praises. Even the teacher was clapping in appreciation. Young devils that could perform more than one process in one magic sequence were rare, and in such young age, the heir of Sitri family already had enough control to actually do two and maintain it for a few minutes.

" Great, Sitri-san! You're already capable of two-steps sequence… Keep going this way and you won't fall far behind your sister."

Sona's magic's numeric value was 125, according to the doll. That wasn't too surprising, considering she scored two times with one magic. Although Rias obviously won in terms of pure strength, Sona's versatility won her more points than her.

Rias gritted her teeth in jealousy. Although she was her friend, they both always wanted to become better than the other, thus leading to a heated rivalry.

After her, not many students received praise from the instructor, since Sona raised the bar higher with her performance.

" Verdia Arcadia! Your turn, son."

It was already public secret that this particular lesson was the most exciting for young devils, not only because they liked the subject, but also the lad's kindness and attention pointed at them. He was unlike other teachers, stern and strict, but strict and willing to give improvements. No one wanted to be forced, and he knew that.

But Verdia was one of his favorite students.

Not only timid and kind, he also shared the same fate of being born outside the 72 Pillars, turning to the so-called 'proxy pillars'. That alone gave him more than enough reason to support this child through and through as long as he could.

" Alright, sensei."

The young boy stepped forward and inhaled deeply, to stabilize his mind. Magic would be easier to invoke with calm and clear mind.

" Uncle said fire would burn better in higher concentration of oxygen, and that oxygen is in the air we inhale. Then…"

He exhaled the air in his lungs and calmed down. During that period, everyone chattered, as he wasn't really a high-ranked noble, and he wasn't that eye-catching. Most of the kids enrolled there were from families with ranking above Duke.

For example, Rias Gremory from one of 72 Pillars, Archduke Gremory.

However, that soon changed the moment Verdia unleashed his magic to the poor doll. Once he collected enough air, he sent them out in chain explosions. Well, one thing he didn't know, air contained more than oxygen and its mixture could make a terrible fireworks when ignited.

Even the caster himself was surprised at the effect of his deed. The fire spread out quickly and turned wild. Verdia thrust both arms, trying to use his mana to contain the flames from spreading any further, but a 5-years old kid had strict limits.

" Water, heed my will!"

The students were too shocked to act, so the instructor took matters to his own hands. He swiped his hand in a wide arc, creating huge mass of vapor and sloshed it to the raging flames. They were extinguished almost immediately, leaving a victim to be seen. The poor measuring doll was lying lifelessly there, looking more dead than usual if that's even possible.

Luckily, the flames were slowed enough to save the room. Now, it would need no more than minor repairs.

" H-He burned the gym!"

" Verdia could've burnt us all with his freaky magic!"

This situation was the worst outcome after putting out the flames. Young Verdia couldn't say anything, as he knew he was the cause of this disaster. Yet, he didn't cry or deny it like normal 5-years old child.

Sensing the direction of this event and not liking it at the least, the older male stepped forward and shielded him from his classmates' accusing eyes.

" Look at the doll before speaking, kids."

The charred doll surprisingly still worked after that mayhem, showing a more shocking value. Verdia's magic was worth 195, the highest value ever seen in elementary school. That was a magic sequence with 3 steps, even though its first two steps could be combined, but three steps nonetheless.

" His magic was powerful, but he lacked control of it. So what? It's not like any of us never make mistakes. His just looked worse than us, nothing more."

Then, he proceeded to point at one of the loudest students.

" Kael! If you miscalculated your magic power, what would happen? You could've killed your friend! And you did miscalculate, with your magic nearly piercing Emily who stood two meters from the doll. From what I saw, you celebrated and claimed that your aim is so great, you purposely missed her"

Kael Berith looked down and gritted his teeth.

" See? We all make mistakes. At least he tried to fix his mistake. This Verdia here contained the fire before it could actually do a lot of damage. Look, just slightly black wall and floor, nothing too serious. I didn't do that, he did."

He walked forward and smiled at his students.

" None of us was hurt, so how about taking this as a lesson to improve our control and make up? It's not like he tried to, and he's a part of your class, right?"

Silence filled the room for a while, until a certain red-headed female decided to break it.

" Right! Verdia's awesome! Just look at how much his magic did!"

" Yes, he could've held back a little, but because sense told us to go all out, he ended up blasting the doll, so it's not his fault!"

The magic instructor gasped at the sudden attack by Sona Sitri and let out a small chuckle. As if on cue, the whole class looked at him.

" Ummm~ I guess I did say that… ehehe"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, making the whole class erupt in laughter. Even Verdia couldn't hold in his laugh. He eventually broke and laughed until he was sent to the infirmary because of severe stomachache.

After school…

" Thanks for the backup, Rias-chan, Sona-chan."

Verdia's words were from the heart. He knew, deep down, the situation he was in couldn't have been resolved without them. At least, it could've resulted in the students thinking that their instructor gave special treatment to a student or they'd think that damaging school property would be fine.

Both weren't exactly the kind of outcome he wanted.

" Hey, what are friends for, Verdia? Don't be too serious."

" You would've done the same for us, anyway."

Both of them gave him a hard smack on his back. They continued waking home, or should've, had Rias not purposely stepped on Sona's toe, enacting a goose chase between two females and leaving the boy in the dust.

Just like that, a day passed for him.

Time skip, 4 years later…

" Seriously, you guys have got to see this!"

Rias Gremory, although looking more womanly in some terms compared to years before, hadn't suffered much change in personality. She was still the same kind and bubbly person, albeit very prideful and a little arrogant.

Actually, there was a change. A huge change to her tastes, that she wholeheartedly was trying to spread to her close pals. Unwillingly, those two fulfilled the redhead's wish and watched some kind of film she obtained from her vacation to human world recently.

" This is… some sort of booming stuff in human world?"

" How should I say this… unique, isn't it?"

Rias just nodded vigorously, clearly excited. She had been fangirling for over a week now, watching those anime films without thinking of time. Luckily, devils had no qualms in pulling all-nighter, and it was vacation, so there wasn't any luck.

Her actions had worried her mom, though. It was the first time Rias became so engrossed that she holed up in her room for a week without going out at all.

" She kinda becomes… what's that word again? Otaku?"

Verdia's thought process was broken by his raven haired friend grasp on his right arm. Most of the time, he wouldn't really mind this kind of physical interaction, but her grip started to make his lower arm pale.

" Uh, Sona? My arm's getting white here…."

" Sister, sister, sister… magical girls, magical girls…"

She had been chanting those two words ever since Rias locked the room and practically forced them to do a marathon of this anime. What was it called again?

Mahou shoujo… or something?

Wait, the pressing matter wasn't her stutter! My arm's getting less than needed energy here!

" Wake up! Sona!"

He used his other arm and shook her to break her stupor. After a while of struggling, his arm wasn't in danger anymore, although moving it proved to be a little challenging.

She looked at him, shaking in fear. He gasped, wondering what could make her so terrified. Rias, too, moved to her friend's side. Letting her grasp him for comfort, he looked around to find what the cause was.

The only thing here was a TV with anime playing on it. He had to say, those outfits the characters used were familiar. He closed his eyes to concentrate, digging around his memory to look for that particular frilly, cute, and cheery outfit.

" Rias, turn off that anime now!"

His orders shocked her, but she obliged. After pausing the film, she turned around, only to see him also shivering. He remembered the horror of that outfit. In the front, they looked cute, but truth be told, that outfit was one of the worst torture tool known to him, and of course, the raven-haired girl.

" R-Rias… You might not know this, but when you were on your vacation…"

Flashback, one month ago…

Verdia walked to Sitri mansion. The sheer size wasn't bigger from his or Rias, but the facilities surrounding the territory and all kinds of beautiful scenery beat them. Gremory family boasted resources, Arcadia clan boasted magic research, and Sitri family was the best in terms of medical facilities and water sources.

Even now, he was invited to play. Of course, he didn't refuse, since that mansion had open air hot spring bath, and Sona's sister was there. The only female of 4 devil kings, Serafall Leviathan, formerly Serafall Sitri. He'd always been wondering what kind of person she was. He knew she was some kind of actress in a show, but Sona never told him which.

" Sona-tan~ wait for me~"

A woman's voice echoed through the hall. It was cute, yet it possessed some sort of alluring feel to it.

" No! Get that horrible thing away from me, sis!"

Shortly after, a raven-haired girl ran down from the stairs, apparently chased by something terrifying. Following her, a petite woman descended the stairs. Her face complimented her body, cute and innocent. If there's one thing unfit her loli appearance, it was her womanly assets' unbelievable size.

She must be Serafall Leviathan, the one and only female Maou.

He found himself flabbergasted at first, but the similarities with Sona were undeniable, and she told her she only had one sibling.

The petite devil ruler stopped chasing her sister and looked at him.

" Hmmm~ Are you Sona-tan's boyfriend?"

" BOY— No, I'm just her friend, her childhood friend."

She hummed and circled around him, as if measuring his very being. He was still 10, but her height only beat him by a few inches. Even Sir Zechs was head and shoulder taller than him, and he was normal.

Then, she beamed him a smile and pointed.

" Okay, I approve! But, I won't give you Sona-tan so easily! You'll have to—"

*Rapid steps from running*

" SIS! What were you saying to him!"

Sona Sitri entered the fray, scolding her sister. She'd always been a curious girl, so she stopped running to hear the conversation between them and stepped in when she heard something incredibly outrageous her sister was spouting.

" Aaaww~ Sona-tan~ You came back for me! My cute little sister finally agrees to play with me~"

Serafall grabbed her sister's shoulder. It seemed like those petite arms held considerable power, since Sona couldn't even squirm out. He'd expected her to be a little eccentric, but it was beyond his imaginations.

Before it's too late, he had to escape.

Silently, he retreated back to the door, hoping she wouldn't notice. Luck wasn't on his side as his opponent was a maou, who'd experienced life-death battles, thus having great awareness.

" Wait, young boy!"

Suddenly, his feet were enveloped in ice. Gradually, the ice crept upwards, until it had contained almost all his lower body.

" As if I'm going to let myself be captured so easily!"

He concentrated and summoned flames hot enough to meld even metal. The ice instantly evaporated, letting him flee before the childish maou could capture him again.

*crack, crack*

" Useless, huh?"

Just before he could perform the first step towards freedom, his whole body was encased in ice far thicker than before. From behind him, Serafall Leviathan pointed her scepter at him, innocently smiling.

" Play with us, okaaay~"

The last part was dragged out, giving a more dreadful feeling to that phrase. By now, he knew that this girl certainly deserved her title, in terms of horror she carried.

He was dragged somewhere, still frozen like a popsicle.

Flashback ends.

" She's got one hell of a sister, and I've experienced a tragedy caused by her, first-hand."

" Let's keep what happened there to the grave."

Both of them were thoroughly terrified of her. Perhaps devil kings were far more eccentric than they'd thought. Two of them, Sir Zechs and Serafall were huge siscons, and doted a little too much on their younger sisters.

If there was something he gained from that encounter with that magical girl/ devil king, it was never to judge a book by its cover, no matter how cute and cuddly the cover was. Doing so would probably get you severe consequences.

Rias, although pouting to some extent, restrained herself from arousing that memory again. Her brother had often told her how… unique his fellow devil king was. Honestly, she preferred not to deal with them.

From outside, loud clanging sounds of steel were heard. Rias shot up and ran to the door while beckoning at her friends to tail her. They exited the room and ran across corridors, straight to the training grounds.

" Uncle, you've come!"

Rias shouted happily to the two streaks of light cutting the air. Each time the lights clashed, a loud clang reverberated. The moment they saw Rias, those lights landed on the ground in form of two men. One was a Japanese style general with a katana engraved with various runes, another was a Roman wielding a golden spear. Both briefly bowed to her, but Rias paid no mind and tackled those two.

" Julius-san, Iwamoto-san. Congratulations on completing the mission."

I bowed a little to them as a sign of respect, and as a way to gain their attention. Once they'd let the energetic Rias down, they noticed me and rubbed my hair.

" No need to be formal, little one. A man doesn't demand respect from others, he gets it without even asking. Besides, we are here as friends, are we not?"

" True that, Verdia. Just relax."

Both of them used old accents of their respective countries. Although they were more modern than they formerly were, changing the way they spoke proved to be a tough task to accomplish, since it was engraved since their youth.

The three youngsters often played at Rias's house, since her family mostly stayed home with her, unlike the others. Sometimes, they'd watch her brother's pieces spar with each other. After years, Verdia had captured by the sheer beauty of swordplay Sir Zech's knights displayed in their training sessions.

" Dad, can I ask you something?"

His father was a great magician, and helped out in maintaining the barrier across Underworld, and technologies that were operated mostly by magic. With Ajuka Beelzebub, the Verdia clan was developing some kind of new technology called magi-tech, technologies that were based on the sacred gears.

Of course, he still loved his son dearly, and delivered his duty as a parent well.

However, he didn't expect his son to ask such question.

" Can I learn sword skills?"

" Why? Isn't magic already enough for you? We're mages, not warriors, you know."

The ten year old bit his lips, already expecting resistance from his parent. His dad might be more lenient than his mom, but this topic was quite sensitive.

Mages and warrior had been at odds for a very long time, after all.

" It's just… I feel that practicing magic has become rather stagnant to me, so I want to try something different."

His father sighed and once again tested his son.

" Sword training involves rigorous and strict training. It can be extremely taxing for us mages. Are you okay with that?"

As an answer, he undressed in front of her father, revealing the result of his own physical training he'd done. His father widened his eyes at the shaped muscles of his son, tough and elastic. He was lean and always hid his body under clothes.

" I've done all the physical requirements. Now, I just need the skills and equipments."

Finally, his father gave in and stood up, heading to his inner chamber. Once reaching there, he turned on the lights, letting a gentle light fill the room. On the wall, there was a sheathed sword with staked snake's head as its guard. The hilt, guard, and the scabbard were all bone-white, without any blemish.

He retrieved it and went back to his son.

" During your great-grandpa's era, there was a band of elite warriors who were adept in both magic and martial skills. He was one of them, an Arcane Knight. However, some time ago, that band disappeared, and mages and warriors started bearing enmity to each other."

He passed the blade to his son, who drew it from its pure white scabbard.

" Viper bone sword, a fine blade. Forged from a demon snake's skeleton, it was no less heavy than a steel greatsword. I think you'll be able to use it soon."

Verdia sheathed it again and went back to his room. It was too heavy for him to wield, but that would not be the case soon enough.

The vacation was not long enough, that was something students would usually say when their vacation ended. However, for Verdia that was not the case at all.

It wasn't because the pleasant time ended that he despised the day school started again, but the nasty high-class arrogant jerks from the original 72 Pillars. Those bastards had been harassing him just because he wasn't from the 33 surviving members of 72 Pillars.

" Well, well. Look at the filthy fake noble here, guys. I feel dirtied just being in the same room as him."

" Yuck, why won't he just scram and go to those filthy commoners' school? I bet he'd make it big there."

More and more noble children had been enrolled here and expected to be treated as geniuses, considering where they hailed from. Alas, they spent too much time boasting and not training, setting their own stats lower than they should be.

Where would they vent out? Of course, the so-called fake nobles like Verdia.

" You know, if you're so disgusted, why don't YOU get out? I honestly won't mind the slightest."

His ears were getting got from all their insults. So, he decided to drop a bomb to finally make them shut their mouth. Their face took a huge change, from a sneer to an almost funny, pissed- off faces.

They walked straight to him and one of them, Kael Berith, suddenly tapped on Verdia's table.

From where his hand was pressed, steel spread like frost across the wooden table. It was Berith clan's special ability, control over metal. They were the ones responsible of making weapons and most of them became excellent blacksmith. Some also became very proficient in battles, turning the tides by summoning huge steel titans that hacked through enemies with ease.

That family was ranked Archduke, moreover, 28th rank in terms of battle power and influence according to Ars Goetia.

" Know your place, pleb."

He glared right into Verdia's eyes, who also replied in kind.

" Thanks, you should've practiced it first."

Just before Verdia could lash out his favorite spell, or Kael with his metal stakes, someone grabbed both of their shoulder and squeezed.

" Cut it out, guys. Class is not a good place to fight. Kael, you know how Verdia wiped the floor with your ass last time, and you calm down."

Haze Valefor got in between two angry youths and tried stopping them from destroying this place yet again. His clan was also of the original 72 Pillars, but he held no enmity towards the proxy ones, as he believed the maou who chose them. There was no way that the devil king would just choose unworthy families into the Pillars.

What surprised him was Verdia's body. When he squeezed, he felt resistance from his muscles. Normally, mages had rather frail body, like Kael whose muscles were mushy. Saving that question for later, he separated both of them and told those troublemakers to leave, and sat on the seat beside him.

" Dude, you don't have to pay those scums any mind. Facing them just isn't worth enough to make you and your family trouble."

" I know, man. They piss me off, daily. Today happens to be my breaking point."

The green-haired male sighed.

" Well, not all of Pillar members are bad. Take me for an example."

He proudly buffed his chest to emphasize his point. Verdia just smiled at his friend's attempt to console him.

" I wonder why he's so fixated on you, though. He's not like that with others."

" Whatever his reason, I don't feel like giving that kid even the benefit of doubt."

Haze just sweat-dropped at his friend's antics.

" Well, we're kids too, actually."

Moments later, the instructor came into the class. He was the same instructor they'd had since 4 years ago, mostly because devils had extremely low birth rate, and he was told to keep teaching his old students, the ones he was most familiar with.

Of course, the kids still loved him, being naïve and young. They still didn't have dark imaginations like adults and teenagers. This was one of the reasons why he applied as a teacher,.

" Students, I'll have to inform you this. Next week, we're having a field trip to the forest of familiars!"

*Cheer*

" At last!"

" I'm gonna get myself a badass familiar!"

The teacher laughed at his students' excitement, but eventually decided to end it by raising his hands.

" But remember, you must always follow the guide there, or you'll get lost. It's a big place and quite dangerous, after all. I'll also be participating to oversee."

" Boo~"

Meanwhile, somewhere in Lilith Capital…

" Plan's going well. Phase alpha has been completed, proceed with caution."

" Affirmative. We shall accelerate the growth now. Calculating… maturation of seeds is expected three days from now."

" All in father's name, we shall exact father's revenge on those nobles for their previous atrocious deeds."

" We shall have justice, for father."


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter was written by Blazing Tempest and that author apologized for the delay of this chapter getting out. This was a very exciting chapter to edit and read through.**

XXX

Verdia's POV

" The field trip's still next week, huh?"

I twirled my goblet with my index finger, swirling its content to crush a tiny bit of my boredom. One of my two childhood friends was away on a trip with her sis-con brother to see an anime convention in Akiba. Well, there's also searching for a possible peerage member, but after seeing her fan-girling that time, I couldn't be exactly sure.

" Yeah. I can't wait!"

And the other one had sparkling eyes after that announcement from before. Oh, man. She'd always been thirsty for knowledge, and this possible new live experience made her extremely excited. It's said in familiar forest, some monsters of lore took residence. Furthermore, some of rare beasts might show themselves.

Hmm, I could understand her excitement, but…

It'd been one hour since we arrived at her mansion and her rambling of the same stuff over and over again. To be honest, I wondered how she kept her aloof persona at school with so much excitement bottled up inside. It's truly a miracle she didn't explode.

Ouch, miracle stung my head.

" Still, it's pouring a lot here, considering Underworld doesn't have sea."

Sona giggled at my comment and looked outside with serene expression on her face.

" Sitri clan is blessed with the best scenery and massive amount of water source. Springs, rivers, lakes… Our territory is much more humid than others, that's why rains occur more often here. Well, it hasn't been so long since last one, though."

She sipped her tea with style worthy of her noble lineage. Tea parties weren't included in my course of attitude classes, since men rarely took part in them. Besides, I was a quick learner. Just by seeing, I could learn far quicker than most devils.

Her face showed some kind of longing as she looked up to the ceiling.

" Aa-aah, I really want to see it…"

" What?"

" The sea. You know the Underworld doesn't have any sea, right?"

" Oh, I guess sensei did mention that."

" I heard it's far bigger than any lake, extending faaaar to the horizon…. Its water is salty, far saltier than any saltwater springs the Underworld has. All kinds of fishes live inside, and people living near there…. Amazing, isn't it?"

"…Sea, huh? I do want to see it too…"

Most devils would look down on humans and thought of human world as dirty place, but for the three of us, human world was a world of wonders. Granted, why'd people hate a world with such abundant of resources and beautiful nature?

I don't understand why they looked down on it so much.

Meanwhile, on the borders between nobles' and commoners' residence…

" The seeds. How's their condition?"

" Don't worry about it, master. It's in good condition. Furthermore, we've been planting them on site unnoticed. We can execute this plan faster at this rate."

A man in his late 20s turned around and looked at the female servant with expressionless face. Then, he suddenly turned savage and kicked the kneeling girl away. Her back collided with the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. She clenched her stomach, stinging due to the kick's impact.

" ARE YOU STUPID? HUH?! If you execute it not in time, people will NOTICE! How can you NOT understand that?!"

He proceeded to beat up the young female with his fists and legs. He pulled a handful of her long golden hair and forced her to look at his face. She groaned in pain, from her hair, back, and stomach. Her face, bruised and bloody, looked at the man with despair. She knew that her life wouldn't be a long one, one of the perks of being a slave, but she didn't expect it to come this fast.

She'd be turned to one of many in a pile of buried corpse on the yard.

" Sister!"

A little boy around 8 years old came running in, unable to witness this inhuman torture. Other serfs failed to keep him out of this scene, thus his interference. But, he could do nothing more than hug his poor sister while crying. The man just glared at both of them and snorted, then called a bunch of his armed men.

" Give that wench 50 lashes, then drench her in cold water."

He turned away after dipping his bloodied hands inside a bucket of water, as if disgusted by that red sticky liquid staining his fists. One of the guards came in, bringing a flay. It was just a wooden stick with several ropes. Each rope was embedded with wooden cubes, so every strike would tear skin and rip flesh.

" Tie 'er up! And get that lad away from her."

Two of the serfs quickly grabbed the young boy and dragged her away before the guards could change their minds and decide to torture him also. However, the boy kicked and fought, not wanting to part with his sister.

Just when a pair of hands softly pushed him away.

" I'll be okay, Rex. Just go with them for now…"

His sister's gentle smile weakened his resistance a little, letting his comrades pull him away to safety. He could only watch as his sister's frail body was tied to a pole, and the flay, mercilessly tearing apart flesh and blood, splattering the floor with her own blood.

After some time that felt endless, they untied her and poured a whole bucket of cold water on her bloodied body. A 10-years old girl, was lashed 50 times, just because one's uneven temper. They soon dragged her away, leaving a wet trail of diluted blood. She was left near the door, and the other serfs quickly gathered and collected her body.

" Umm…. Where is this…."

The girl woke up staring at the cloth ceiling. Her body ached all over from the torture earlier. She could barely move anything but her head. Noticing her action, Rex rushed to her and gave her a big hug.

" Sis! You're finally awake!"

" Yeah… Uh, the wounds…"

He scurried away, afraid of inflicting more injuries to his already critical sister. She managed to let out a brief chuckle and a smile, then entangled her hand with her brother. Or rather, she just moved her finger to touch his hand.

" After you were out, old man brought you here as fast as he could. You nearly died back then, big sis… I was scared I'd lose you…"

" Huh… Don't worry. I'm alive, at least…"

The door creaked open, revealing a middle-aged man. He might be old, but his muscles were still strong and elastic. Even with the big shirt, his shaped muscles were still seen. He carried a tray of bandage, medicine, and food.

" Thea, my little girl. You've finally come to."

He put the tray on the table and picked up the bandage. He started to unwrap the bandage on her arms and legs, then changed it with the new one. She gritted her teeth a bit in pain, but endured it nonetheless. After about twenty minutes, he was done and Thea was devouring the food like a hungry beast.

" So, why did young master give you such severe beating?"

Her mouth was kept closed, mostly because her head was shaken up so much that she forgot a lot of stuffs she should've remembered.

So, her brother spoke in her place.

" We finished the task he'd given us earlier and he beat her up when she reported."

The old man rubbed his white beard in thinking position. The worn-out rag he wore didn't wither his wisdom, instead, it made him look simple. His experience gave him more advantage than the younger ones, although he always pretended to not know much.

" Hmm… Young master's tantrum's getting more and more unreasonable these days…"

" Right? Sister's just getting the brunt of his high temper! That man… He shouldn't have done something like this just because he's in bad mood!"

The old man simply patted Rex's head with a sour smile on his face.

" It's not that simple, young child. Like it or not, might makes right in this world, as unfortunate as it is…"

" Might makes right… But, old man Morran, aren't you waay stronger than young master?"

" There are a whole lot kind of might, Rex. You'll understand when you're older."

He groaned in frustration, although eventually smiling at the older man. He also grabbed the bowl and started feeding her sister some rice gruel. Her stomach and throat were most likely unable to accept hard food, so this would have to do.

Verdia's POV

" Your shoulders are stiff. Loosen up more, or your sword won't be fluid!"

" Like… this?"

I swung my sword forward horizontally, while giving strength in the swing. Apparently, it was wrong to power your way from the start. The power had to be increased gradually during the swing itself to make the slash 'fluid', like Iwamoto-san said.

He blocked my blade easily, slowly lowering my blade by using my own force, then sliced upwards. I quickly turned my pommel, intercepting his slash with it.

" You're improving fast, youngster. I can hardly believe it's barely two weeks since you started training with me."

He retracted his blade. I sighed, releasing the tiredness from the samurai's Spartan sword training session. He flashed a toothy grin at me, hopefully satisfied with the results of my work. Well, I'd been polishing my sword skills non-stop after all. It would be a disappointment if my skills stayed stagnant after all that.

" Come on, raise your wooden sword. One more round, and we'll have a rest."

" Alright!"

Once again, we picked up our stance. I pulled my sword back and stood firmly, aiming the point at my opponent. Iwamoto-san didn't even bother taking a stance, probably because my level wasn't enough to make him cautious.

Hehe, you'd surely regret that chink of defense, Iwamoto-san.

I didn't just dash straightforwardly, but in zig-zag pattern to confuse him. Once I reached proper distance, he suddenly slashed, as if wanting to behead me. Of course, I ducked. But, he anticipated and swung downwards.

Somehow, I side-stepped and nearly landed a stab, if it weren't for him blocking with the sword's handle. But, that was just a decoy. My hands pulled back the blade, then stabbed again. His eyes widened, and he struck my blade hard.

The wooden blade flew out of my hand and hit the ground with a loud clang.

" Ouch…"

My hand ached from the collision. That strike overpowered my grip on the sword, hurting my palm in the process.

" I'm sorry, boy. I truly didn't expect you to make that attack, so I was surprised and… Well, I miscalculated."

" My hand's fine, Iwamoto-san. Just a little hot, that's all."

He rubbed his head and suddenly swung his blade and strapped it on his belt.

…

" Iwamoto-san. Why…"

" Oh, sorry. Tis' a habit of mine. Blood must be cleaned or it'll make rust on the sword."

We opened the basket's lid quickly and nearly drooled at the smell of its content. This time, Samirah had packed him sandwiches, and her cooking would make even monsters kneel in desire.

Of course, I immediately attacked the food and took the first bite. Devil king's samurai had also experienced the first bite, and enjoyed it greatly. Luckily, the training ate up a lot of energy, so we had no qualms with clearing a whole basket of calories like this. Besides, it's not like devils get fat as easy as humans.

" Boy, has that tree been here long?"

" Not really… I don't know."

We all got back to savoring the taste of sandwiches, finding the anonymous tree less important than finishing up the meal.

At least, until a fat branch suddenly slammed on the wooden bench we put the basket on. It destroyed everything, bench and whatever on it.

…

" CUUUURRSEEE YOUUU!"

" SANDWIIICHH!"

We were overcome by anger. I pulled out my bone sword from the dimensional storage spell and sliced off the branch without mercy. Iwamoto-san also lost himself to pure rage, changing to a blur and struck anywhere he could reach.

I cast an explosion spell and set it on maximum power.

" GO TO HEELLL!"

The sphere of flames had been released, going straight to its main body. My training proved to be useful enough, since its whole body was covered in soot with black marks everywhere.

Iwamoto-san continuously hacked and slashed, shaving off its branches like an angry beast. He fully intended to give this piece of living wood a piece of his mind, and I did too. It retaliated, but those actions really didn't bother us much.

Just a few swings and sways. Shaking hard wouldn't work on flying devils.

Eventually, it lost almost all branches. When I landed, it suddenly caused a mini quake and threw me off balance. Seeing a chance, it slammed its branch towards me, crushing the ground I stood on.

It lifted the branch, probably expecting red pancake, but saw nothing.

" Surprised?"

I dashed right to the main trunk and cast a cyclone around my blade. It was heavy, but the adrenaline made it lighter. I sliced, sending out an arc of vibrating sickle that easily sliced through its thick body. It let out a primal roar, shaking the air around.

" What was that?"

Several maids, butlers, and gardeners from the mansion finally noticed, and rushed out. With new targets, the tree gained its excitement again, and placed its attention there. Of course, crowding one place restricted their movements. I was ready to leap there, but…

" Seriously?"

Before that branch could crush them, almost all of them pulled out either kitchen knife, scissors, or even sweeper, and instantly shredded that branch to nothing. Not stopping there, they proceeded to destroy the main body.

Iwamoto-san approached me and tapped my shoulder.

" Have you ever wondered why guards are scarce now? It's because maid and butlers are endowed with battle skills. Guards are unneeded if there are servants like this."

Indeed, they ended the monster by ganging up on it and attacking. Finally, the main trunk was cut down and it was burned down.

" A…hahaha… I see…"

Quite sure that wasn't really the case for other family than this…

I'd seen several nobles' houses, after all. If not protective spells, then a lot of guards to keep outsiders away. Gremory family's method was to have the maids and butlers patrol while also doing their duty… It's quite handy, if I had to say so myself.

" Let them handle things here. If that thing can get through thick protection here, it's not safe to be in the streets at night."

" Alright, Iwamoto-san. Thank you for today."

I bowed a little and went home after saying goodbye to Rias' parents. As expected, she wouldn't come back until it was the h-day. Apparently, she was out looking for some possible peerage members again. How lucky… already getting evil pieces…

Well, being envious didn't help, so let's just go home and gloat there.

When I reached home, my father was waiting in the living room, with newspaper on his hands. He glanced up and smiled.

" You're home early."

" Mm-hm. I happen to finish my training faster today."

" You're improving. That's good."

I nodded and went to take a bath. That battle and walking made me sweaty. As one of noble lineage, I simply couldn't just walk around with horrible stench oozing from my pits. Besides, the clothes got sticky and disgusting.

About half an hour later….

Bath was refreshing. I always preferred cold water, but big sis Samirah insisted on my bathing with hot water instead. She said something about not getting sick by night's air or something similar.

Weird, since devils got stronger when the sun hid its face.

Nevertheless, a hot bath surprisingly felt good too. All my fatigue just evaporated with the white steam….

" Young master, could you give me the basket with lunch you brought? I want to make sure it's clean for tomorrow."

" Uuhh… About that…"

The head maid just sighed and put her hands on the waist. The usually refined Samirah glared at me with deadly eyes, as if daring me to lie.

" Well, it got destroyed in the Gremory house. A tree monster smashed it pieces."

She sighed and patted me in the head. I hated this fact, but unfortunately, she was taller than me, thus able to rub my head as much as she wanted. But, it was also undeniable that it felt good and calming. Her hands were soft, yet a little rough from all housework chores she did on daily basis.

" So that happens… I'm glad you're safe, young master."

She knelt down and enveloped me in a tight hug.

" Yeah. Thanks, nee-san…"

" I'm sure you didn't finish eating back then. Please eat to your heart's content in dinner, okay?"

She released me and pushed me to the dining room. I was hungry, and Samirah nee-san's food, like I said, had the power to make even monsters bow.

1 week later…

After that incident, the monsters attacks stopped abruptly. Almost like the monsters had retreated to separate dimension through a gate, and the gate somehow collapsed. Not that I'd complain if that happened, though.

Because today, we'd finally depart to familiar forest!

" So, what kind of familiar you'd prefer, Rias, Verdia?"

" I want a cute familiar, hmm… a bat that can transform!"

Meanwhile, I thought about the tree incident back then. It was fortunate the Gremory servants managed to exterminate it, but to think a monster could get so close to a noble's quarters felt a little discomforting. It wasn't impossible for us to be attacked in this trip while we were away from sensei's eyes, and we didn't have the almighty samurai who'd slice the monsters to ribbons with his sword.

I was lost in thought until Rias nudged my side with her elbow, and pinched my cheek.

" What?"

" Muu… Verdia-kun, you ignored us, didn't you? What kind of familiar do you want?"

Oops, that question came in through the right ear and out through the left. I chuckled a little, although the foreign tongue Rias spoke in was a little weird.

" Kun?"

" It's some kind of habit Japanese people use to call others… what do they say? Honorifics?"

" Oh-ho, interesting. About familiar, I'm not sure I can get one so easily in one try… Besides, finding a suitable one is hard enough already."

" Come on, don't be a party pooper, Verdia-kun."

Heir of Sitri, you're one nasty sarcastic woman. She grinned to me like a Cheshire cat, and that smug smile of hers…It was high time to teach her one or two lessons.

" What about you, Sona-chan? What kind of familiar do you want?"

My counterattack hit the mark. She gasped with a hint of red on her cheeks. From experience, I knew that Serafall Leviathan liked to call her Sona-tan, or Sona-chan. That alone provided me a deadly weapon to use against her whenever I felt like doing it.

Because, you know, being dressed against her will in a magical girl garment really made a lasting foul memory.

" Uh, my specialty is water magic, so I think… undine or something?"

" Ho-ho…"

Both me and Rias looked at her slyly, then gave her a huge slap on the back before running to class immediately.

" So, Rias, where did you go last 2 weeks? You even skipped school for that."

We reached the classroom quicker than I thought. Maybe talking to others would make distance feel shorter or something?

" I'm searching for potential pieces."

Her answer was stopped right there. For the honest Rias to be so discreet…It must be her brother that helped her. Certainly, with a maou pulling the strings, she'd obtain only the cream of the crop members of peerage. But, neglecting school wasn't like her.

Hmhh… No need to be too nosy about this. Let's just concentrate about matters at hand.

Long story short, the homeroom started and we all took our respective seats. Sensei cleared his throat and began his announcement.

" Before we go take the portal, there a few things I have to say."

He coughed once again to re-focus the students' attention on him and pulled out a bracelet like device from his pocket.

" This is a security measure we use to protect you while maintaining freedom. Each of these bracelets are embedded with teleportation circles that's linked to the instructors', myself included. If you're in danger, please press the button, and we'll immediately come for you. I'll give these to you all once we arrive there."

" "Yes, sensei.""

We all answered in unison. Then, the practical magic instructor told us to head to the gym where the circle was formed. One by one, we entered the portal and ended up looking at a lush dark forest with eerie feels all over.

" Uhh… So, who's this guy with beard and weird look?"

" No idea."

Haze Valefor asked me, so I answered to the best I could… technically.

We were handed the bracelets, all of us, but I got mine from my archenemy, Kael Berith. He just handed it to me without a word and left afterwards. Huh… maybe Haze's words weren't exactly wrong, after all.

Having that thought, I was suddenly tapped on the shoulder by one of the jocks. As in, one of the most popular kid in class. Eddie Murmur, the clan with mastery over hypnosis and mind control powers. Apparently, his dad was a politician, and he inherited a great part of that particular talent.

However, he also inherited his dad's aptitude for cleansing 'obstacles' in his way.

That was why I had my doubts when he came to me. But, I thought little of it and shooed them to the back of my head.

" So, kids. This is Zadou, and his son Zatooji. They will be guiding us as familiar master, and a trainee. Those who want to follow predetermined route will be supervised by them, while those who want to go freely, make sure to attach the bracelet carefully and go in groups."

I wore the bracelet device immediately.

About half students set out in groups, while another half followed Zadou, the beardy old man Haze thought as a weird-looking earlier.

" Hmm… I hope all of you find a suitable familiar you can proudly call a partner here. Best of luck."

" I'll wait here, if any of you free students want to come back."

As Rias and Sona departed on the Zadou's party, Eddie suddenly nudged my side and grinned.

" Hey, what do you say we go off alone? That way, we'll get to see stuffs more exciting than we can get from the pre-determined tour."

" It's fine, but the group?"

" Aah, it's not like all of us got groups, right? Let's pick them up."

I just nodded, getting another grin from him. Although warily, I welcomed a possible addition to this little circle I had. We found another 3 kids, including Kael Berith. It seemed he didn't get any group, too. That was unexpected.

We all traveled for a while in the forest, talking with Eddie as sole connector. I'd barely talked myself, and just went with the flow. All of a sudden, there wasn't anyone else around me, more like, the figures around me all dissipated to nothingness.

I was sure they were here a minute ago. In any way, they were right in front of me until a second ago. I didn't daydream or get pulled to something interesting at all, so why?

Suddenly, the earth behind me shook hard. My balance was disrupted, but it wasn't enough to make me fall down. So why was I on the ground?

Simple.

I just fell due to sheer horror with this… creature in front of me. To say it majestic… I wouldn't really call a monster majestic, but it was true. Right in front of me was a huge multi-headed snake, or dragon maybe, since it had four scaly legs. Green fume emanated from its nostrils, sometimes with flames sparking from the mouth. To be honest, I was terrified. It looked at me as if I was a bug waiting to be crushed, and turned.

I quickly pushed the button on my bracelet, expecting a magic circle to be erected with several experienced instructors coming. But, then, nothing happened.

" Here's the bracelet."

" It's not like all of us got groups, right? Let's pick them up."

" Ha…hahaha. So that's how it is…"

Realization hit me hard. I knew it, nothing good could come from trusting others. If you wanted truth, better take it to your own hands… And now, it was already too late.

I was left to die.

Seriously, this kind of situation made me want to laugh to death. The school trip I'd been anxiously waiting ended up being a disaster, and most likely would be my end, too. I possessed no magic or strength to even run away from this monstrous beast.

" What the hell… this is just messed up… How much hated am I anyway? Surely this isn't just because I'm from the so called fake nobles…"

My thoughts about those came to an early end when one of its heads lunged to me with jaw big enough to swallow an entire cow in one gulp. My body reflex kicked to overdrive, and I rolled to the side. I saw the tree was gouged out of the ground, and the hydra spitting it from its mouth.

My head hurt so much, unbelievable facts one after another… And now, this hydra in front of me already wanted to get its meal…

So, in other words, they'd really be pissed off if I came back alive, right? Man, what kind of face would they make when I greeted them later? Interesting, interesting indeed!

Without realizing, my face had contorted to a nasty grin while I was dodging the hydra's continuous assault. I started laughing, and summoned an explosive sphere on my hand.

" BRING IT ON! I swear, I WILL come back alive!"

The other four children from Verdia's group walked happily, in contrast with their previous actions.

" Ha! That'll teach the faker not to mess with us real nobles! Great work, Eddie!"

" Mm-hm. It's a huge success, eh?"

" Seriously! Even with his cheat magic, he would never outdo us!"

" What the hell? Did he seriously think he's better than us?! This'll teach him a lesson."

However, one person was sweating hard. A certain person with power to bend metal to his will, and the son of Berith Family, Kael Berith. Admittedly, he detested Verdia with passion, but he also thought of him as a rival. His parents and teachers were strict about him and placed high expectations, and he was slowly crushed by it.

Until, he found out about Verdia's overwhelming magical skills.

Even though he put his all into magic training every single day, to satisfy his parents' desires, suddenly, a classmate of his, from a 'fake' noble's family nonetheless, barged in and brazenly surpassed him oh so easily.

It was like all his efforts had been for naught.

He was fine with Rias or Sona Sitri to surpass him, since he thought they also received rigorous magic courses, but Verdia was just outrageous. His parents always told him that the Berith clan was superior, possessing one of rare talents of 72 Keys of Solomon. However, Verdia was from a substitute family, yet, he was far more superior.

To add salt to his wounds, he was far more popular with everyone. Unlike him, who had to take etiquette class, magic, and even extra courses right after school, he could have fun with his friends and play to his heart's content.

However, throwing him to a lair of hydra with a fake device was simply death sentence. He just wanted to prank him a little, not more. He never even tried to hurt him, or pick a fight. He never did anything to inquire such penalty.

No matter how he looked at it, they went too far.

With that, the young Berith decided to make things right. He quickly left the group unnoticed and went to the place he'd left Verdia earlier. After about ten minutes running, he finally reached the cave of hydra, and saw an unbelievable scene.

He expected Verdia to be hiding, but really, he did the opposite. Right there, Verdia just stood like a statue, with some kind of specter around him. His eyes were that of defiance, almost insane even. With that said, no matter how much the hydra bit or mauled the blue specter around him, it didn't even budge. Suddenly, it formed a hand and choked one of the heads.

" This is…"

Verdia's POV, about 5 minutes earlier…

I kept on dodging and stealing some hits, but nothing worked. Its thick scales mitigated the damage of my blows to almost nonexistent. No matter how much I told myself to calm down, my body just wouldn't stop shaking.

No matter what I did, nothing seemed to work.

Overcome by fear and desperation, my mind worked overdrive. I thought of whatever strategy I could to save my life, but nothing came out. I dodged again, but this time, the hydra anticipated, and used another head to mow me down.

" I'm about to die…"

" Seriously? I'll become a hydra's meal?"

Its huge jaw struck forward, and I could do nothing but wait for imminent death. It seemed, I'd never get to see mom and dad, or Rias and Sona again…

I wished I could've had more time with them… Or at least, say sorry for all the teasing I did to them, and all the troubles I got them… Iwamoto-san was a splendid teacher, too… I wonder if I made him proud.

*bark, bark*

" Hisss…"

The snake stopped its assault when a growl and a bark were heard. It turned its scaly head to the source, and saw a little wolf pup. Its fur was white, but its stomach was white. It had some kind of mane on its neck, almost like flames. Wasting no time, it attacked and opened its jaw wide, ready to swallow the poor beast whole.

My body moved autonomously.

In an instant, I dashed and reached the pup, then escaped to the forest. My breath was already hard, and my fatigue made me unable to go fast enough. It caught up with me in no time, as its one step equaled 10 steps for me.

Shortly, I threw the pup away, hoping to at least do one last good deed before dying. That action made me fall to the ground, and the pup landing on a nearby bush, hopefully running back to its mother.

Yeah, okay. I knew you were mad, hydra, but no need to pour poison all over me. Just take a bite and be done with it…

" The most important thing in battle, is the will to live. Why'd you even fight if not for that?"

" But, master, what if I can't muster the will to live?"

"Surely you have someone important. Rias-chan, perhaps? OR maybe the Sitri heir? Your parents? If you die, won't they be sad? And moreover…"

" Hmmm?"

" There's someone out there, who doesn't know you, yet really eager to meet you, know you, and be with you. Someday… when you find them, you'll be glad that you're alive."

" Okay. But I still don't get it…"

My mind was already at its end, but somehow, I regained composure. Devils had long lives, and I surely don't want to end it like this!

" LIKE HEELL I'LL LET IT END LIKE THIS!"

And then, blue light enveloped my body, forming an ethereal warrior.

" Eh?"

I opened my eyes, having regained my clarity again. In front of me was the hydra… Wait, why the heck was I not dead yet? What was this blue sphere around me? Ohh… More than a sphere, it was more of man stature. A huge transparent armored man, at least.

My fist clenched, and I found the armored man raised his fist and caught one of the heads, and started squeezing them without mercy. I pulled, and suddenly it ripped off one head off the hydra, spurting blood and slime everywhere.

" Cool… This is so damn cool…"

I, or at least the transparent warrior pummeled the hydra to submission. It could regenerate its heads, but not body, apparently. However, its sheer size troubled me, and even with 50 feet warrior on my side, it couldn't be taken down so easily.

I heard tramples from the forest, and out of the blue (or green, maybe?) a wolf pounced and buried its fangs deep on the snake's hide.

Suddenly, I felt a nudge on my feet, and I saw the little wolf cub licked my foot. I kneeled and grabbed it, then put it above my head.

" Auuu~"

A wolf's war cry, huh? Great, and this cub was incredibly cute and soft. No, no, don't get distracted by this cute creature, focus on the battle…

Wait, the hydra stopped and stared at me head on. It slowly lowered its heads, as if to respect me and bow. It opened its mouth and ejected something from its system. It was a sword, a silver sword with purple hue on the tip.

I picked up the sword, still not dispelling the ethereal warrior yet, and raised it. The hydra then rose up again, shook the wolf off its tail, and hauled me above its head.

But, I was already too tired to do anything, so I just let them be and fell unconscious.

…

" Oh, you're awake."

I opened my heavy eyelids to find my arch-nemesis, Kael Berith. He just sat in front of me, without that usual smug smile. My hand reached for the silver blade from the hydra, and I dashed and placed the blade on his neck.

" Give me one reason why I shouldn't slit your throat and leave you to die here."

My voice was hoarse and cold, but I couldn't care less. Heck, I'd be okay if my voice could terrify him a little. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then composed himself.

" Look, I know an apology won't cut it—"

" Obviously."

I cut him coldly.

" But, I still want to say sorry. I found you collapsed on the ground, so I went and checked. Your mana level's as low as it can be, but I can't do anything about it, so I just patched you up here and there."

" I see. But, what I'll have you spill everything now."

He started explaining what he knew. Apparently, Eddie Murmur put together a plan with the ones dissatisfied with me getting high scores over practical and theory exams, as well as being one of the best magic users in school. All they hated was the fact that I wasn't a 'real' 72 Pillars member.

Stupid. This fact was so idiotic that I wanted to cry.

Even though they were just snobby brats that reeked of mother's milk, and didn't even put effort on getting stronger. Even though all they could do was being arrogant, thinking that their birth status had placed them on a pedestal.

Simply put, they were just venting their inferiority at me.

" So this is power… to manipulate…"

For the first time, I'd realized how dirty this world was. Arrogant mutts who could only boast without actually doing anything… existed everwhere. And I was almost dead from their stupid whims.

Revenge. That was all I could think of.

But, somehow, I knew that my position was too low to actually do anything. This showed me that the 'right' thing could become 'wrong' with interference. For some example, word twists and money bags. Besides, my body suffered severe physical and mental fatigue. Honestly, all I wanted was a good night sleep.

But that didn't mean I couldn't make them suffer a little.

Finally, we arrived at the portal where a lot of students had gathered. Oh, look at those priceless faces! My day had just gotten a little brighter here. That wasn't really unexpected, though.

" V-Verdia-kun… Are you serious?"

" Sensei… He's tired. Could you just let him sleep for now?"

I slowly raised my head from the soft light green fur on the mama wolf. It was too comfortable to take my head off from. Seriously, this fluffy feeling made all the pain just turn to vapor and fly away.

The hydra hissed and nudged me with one of its head. The wolf cub was still stationed above my head, snoring cutely.

" Mm-hm… I'm sorry sensei. Just… let me get down now…"

For some reason, everyone just kept silent when I got down from mama wolf's back. She was about a size bigger than a tiger, so yeah, quite difficult. But, compared to getting down from a huge multi-headed snake with four legs, it was a cinch.

Lucky for him, devils had wings.

Even Zadou, the familiar master who probably had seen all kinds of amazing beasts here had eyes as big as plates. He had this look of disbelief, at least until he shook his head and examined closer.

" Dragon-hydra hybrid and a gale wolf, a fully adult one, no less. This one's still a cub, but it has a crown mark on its forehead… An alpha sign. Rare, so rare that I've rarely seen one, let alone two."

The familiar master went to the two beasts and cast a magic circle. He put his hand on his mouth and started speaking gibberish for minutes, and his expression turned more and more shocked.

Meanwhile, I fell to the ground again, due to my mana being too low to actually move. I felt like crumbling, but Valefor and Kael helped me stand. Sensei finally snapped out from his shock and made me drink some blue potion that only appeared in games Rias brought from Japan. He also channeled some mana straight to my body afterwards.

" T-The hydra was pummeled to submission, while the cub was saved from the hydra's assault, so it took a liking to him?!"

" Beasts aren't ones to lie. Besides, meeting them is rare enough, but placing a hypnotic spell on them is impossible. Hydra has too many heads while wolves lived in packs. It had to be an extreme lucky hit to get this one if this was prearranged."

" So, you mean, that kid just obtained two rare familiars in one go?!"

" Hard to believe, but yes."

Hey, I could hear all of that, you know. But, I was really lucky, huh? I had to thank Iwamoto-san for this later. Had I given up half way, perhaps I'd have become that hydra's meal. But still… What was that armored warrior? How did I summon it? It was powerful, but very consuming. All my mana was consumed for about 4 minutes use.

" W-What is this?!"

The trio got into the scene, finally. I'd started to wonder where they'd gone. Oh, look, their clothes were gooey. Even if that was disgusting, I laughed.

" WHAT THE HELL IS THA—"

" Shh!"

Tch, a little more and they would've been had. Looks like Eddie Murmur, the son of a master politician, had gotten a lot more than I thought from his father.

However, no matter how good he was, keeping in check someone of my caliber with two airheads would prove to be a challenge.

" Ara, isn't that the hydra we saw, Verdia-kun?"

" Yeah, we beat it together, how could you just run off with it like that?"

See? I told you so.

" Really? I came back about half hour ago, though."

" We were worried, so we searched for you first."

Zadou-san seemed to understand the situation, but I'd given him an eye gesture not to interfere just yet. Also, sensei had nodded to me from behind them.

Confirmation was all I needed, and he understood. For that, I was grateful.

" Well you see, the only one who got me was Kael here."

" To increase effectiveness, we split up. The result is you're here and well."

That line was so shameful that I only answered with…

" Are you sure?"

" Why not? Well, how about I take a look at your hydra, Verdia-san?"

He underestimated me again, huh? Perhaps he wasn't a carbon copy, after all. He had taken all things into account… except one thing.

Me.

" Seriously… Each and every last one of you…"

" Hm? What was that?"

" Well… just try it."

He thought I defeated it through some sheer luck and talent I had. Well, in a case, that was true. But, he lacked things I had plenty of when I was fighting. He was extremely powerful in mind magic, but well…

You know, magic beasts hated being controlled more than anything.

*HISSS!*

Ah, it snapped. I rubbed its leg, so it just hissed ferociously at the fallen Murmur clan's son and went back to me.

" You know, it's strange that when you split, you all come together, and in span of 15 minutes, considering the time needed to find the way and stuff. Calling off a search in only 15 minutes… are you serious?"

" What? We're not as bad with direction as you!"

" Really? Then, can you search your way on the lush forest? There's no way a hydra's nest could exist on a marbled path. Besides, it's impossible to get the right time to rendezvous, especially with different directions. Considering that, it's possible that you didn't even take time to search for me."

I smirked inwardly, not wanting to look like an evil mastermind.

" Now the question is… where did you all go? And if you were with me when I came in contact with the hydra, why aren't you all coming with me to share this victory?"

Eddie's smile faltered a lot. As I expected, the expression was incredible.

" Now… how on earth did you all not get in the crossfire between us… And where did you go… I wonder."

It's done. I closed all way out. If he answered with ' In confusion, we ran to different path, and somehow, the hydra went after you instead.', I'd love to bury their grave even deeper, though. And it seemed Eddie was fully aware of that.

So, how'd you act? This was quite exciting….

" JUST QUIT TALKING GIBBERISH AND GIVE US THAT HYDRA, DAMN IT! IT'S TOO GOOD FOR TRASH LIKE YOU!"

Even the wolves could understand the malicious tone one of Eddie's partners-in-crime issued in his demand. Mama wolf even had its fur stand up, and the wind started getting wild. The name Gale Wolf suited them well.

Oh, I forgot to say this, but gotcha.

" You left him to death with a hydra, and you still dare to say that? Shameful."

Aah… Sona just blasted the poor kid with water enough to knock him off his feet. She and Rias stood protectively over me, with Haze Valevor beside them.

" Dude, you okay? Man, they really dig their graves, huh?"

" Yeah… The moment he said 'search for me', I've got them dancing on my hand already."

" Heh… still, you hauled one hell of a catch. And what did I say about chance?"

I sighed and nodded at him.

" I'll treat you at school, so give me a break."

" Deal."

With just that, our school trip to familiar forest was officially over. My mana deficiency made me unable to perform contract, but sensei told me to come again tomorrow to perform it, and officially make them m familiar.

By the way, the wolf cub came with me.


End file.
